The traditional “family photo” at a gathering of the world’s most powerful foreign ministers was scrapped in Atlanta on Friday after European diplomats refused to stand beside Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, in a striking sign of the tensions created by the Trump administration’s decision to bring Moscow back to the G20 table.
The US, which holds the G20 presidency this year, is hosting foreign ministers in the Georgia city on 30 and 31 October. It is the first time Washington has invited a Russian representative to this kind of G20 ministerial since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the Spanish outlet Demócrata.
The photo that never happened
According to Euronews, citing the Associated Press, several European diplomats objected to being photographed alongside Mr Lavrov and threatened to walk out. Two US officials, speaking anonymously, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to cancel the group picture to avoid further controversy.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, welcomed the decision, saying he was not the only minister who did not want to be pictured with Mr Lavrov. Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, struck a more measured tone, saying there could be no normality with Russia but that the disputes still needed to be thrashed out at the table.
Mr Lavrov did take part in the talks. Russia’s state news agency TASS reported that he was seated in the middle of one side of the square conference table, between the Mexican and Saudi foreign ministers, with Mr Rubio in the middle of the head side.
Rubio: ‘a moment of choosing’
Opening the session, Mr Rubio said he hoped for a productive meeting and warned that the world was facing a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises. He described the gathering as “a moment of choosing”, according to Euronews, and pointed to disruption to energy and food supplies, supply chains, trade and freedom of navigation, Demócrata reported. He urged G20 members to strengthen their economic resilience.
The agenda is fraught. Euronews listed the war in Ukraine, the US-Israeli war with Iran, US tariffs and disputes in the South China Sea among the hardest issues. Several G20 members had already voiced concern about Russia’s invitation at a time of intensified attacks on Ukraine, and after President Donald Trump waived new sanctions on Moscow and temporarily restricted logistical and intelligence support for Kyiv.
The diplomatic row came on the same week that a Russian drone strike on a crowded platform at Dnipro’s railway station killed at least 14 people, and as the Kremlin signalled that European countries would not be part of the next round of Ukraine talks.
South Africa shut out
There was another notable absence. TASS reported that South Africa, which held the G20 presidency last year, was not present because the US barred its delegation and refused to issue entry visas to its members. Relations between Washington and Pretoria have been badly strained for well over a year: in February 2025 Mr Rubio skipped the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting hosted by South Africa in Johannesburg, PBS reported at the time.
Russia’s finance minister, Anton Siluanov, had already attended a G20 economic officials’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, in August, Demócrata noted, showing that the US has been steadily widening Moscow’s role in its presidency year.
What happens next
The foreign ministers’ meeting concludes on Saturday. The bigger test comes in December, when Mr Trump hosts the G20 leaders’ summit in Miami, at his golf club according to Euronews. TASS gave the dates as 14 to 15 December. Mr Trump has said he would like to see Vladimir Putin attend; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no decision had been made. If Mr Putin travels, Demócrata noted, it would be unprecedented since the invasion began, and the European reaction in Atlanta suggests it would trigger a far bigger diplomatic storm than a cancelled photograph.
For Ireland, which is not a G20 member but is represented through the EU, the episode underlines a widening gap between Washington and European capitals over how to deal with Moscow.
Sources
- Euronews: EU diplomats object to G20 photo with Lavrov, prompting US cancellation (30 October 2026)
- Demócrata: The G20 meeting in Atlanta starts without a family photo because of Lavrov’s presence (30 October 2026)
- TASS: Lavrov seated between Mexican, Saudi foreign ministers at G20 meeting in Atlanta (30 October 2026)
- Times of Israel live blog: Lavrov arrives in Atlanta for G20 foreign ministers’ meeting (30 October 2026)
- PBS NewsHour: UK foreign secretary questions Russia’s appetite for peace at tense G20 meeting (20 February 2025, background)
- Kyiv Post: ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 30, 2026 (30 October 2026)
Featured image: Atlanta aerial skyline, 2026.jpg by WMrapids, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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